|
ANOTHER ALTERNATIVE
I'm Rob VeVerka, former Director of
Executive Education at the University of
Cincinnati. I ran a very successful
executive leadership program - The
University of Cincinnati Executive
Program (UCEP). About twenty five
corporate leaders attended each session.
About half the sessions focused
leadership and the remainder taught
business knowledge. The courses and
speakers were excellent and the attitude
questionnaires were always positive. I
believed that participants learned a lot
- but was in for a big surprise.
I met
with each leader for feedback and
coaching after they completed a
360°profile. I helped them to understand
the survey results and together we
created an action plan. The leaders
were very open and candid and shared
with me their fears and problems,
strengths, weaknesses, frustrations -
their likes and dislikes. We built a
level of trust that would have never
happened in a traditional classroom
setting.
THE PARADOX
I
asked the leaders for their honest
feedback on the entire program and got
some big surprises. Several of them
politely told me that the classes were
interesting, but less than half of the
sessions were were important to them.
Most had demanding jobs and attending
the classes was a challenge. Several
mentioned that some classes were too
long. All of them believed that the
class had to be participative or they
would simply tune out.
However, most felt the need for training
and development in order to become a
more effective leader. They wanted to
learn, yet didn't have time or patience.
Quite a paradox. A few asked me for
suggestions about how they could learn
more in less time and optimize their
learning experience.
That
was the birth of my executive coaching
practice. I realized you can create
leaders using individualized instruction
in less than half the time of
traditional seminar-based programs. Time
is saved by working only on high
priority topics uncovered through
assessment. Also, travel time, breaks,
and unnecessary information are all
eliminated. Training can also be more
effective and deliver better results.
Let me tell you more.
THE PROCESS
This unique Leadership
Skills Development Program
has four integrated
components - Assessment,
Discovery, Development, and
Application. The key
benefits for the company and
leader are:
-
Time is invested only on
high priority needs.
-
The leader becomes
actively engaged in
their own individualized
process.
-
The leader is
accountable to the
coach, manager and
stakeholders for the
outcome.
-
Travel and seminar time
is minimized.
|
 |
Assessment
After initial
discussions with the leader,
the manager, stakeholders
and coach, a combination of
assessment are administered
based on the leader's needs.
These tools help identify
leadership competencies such
as Emotional Intelligence,
Social Style Versatility,
management skills, or
business knowledge. The
coach may also review
previously completed
assessments.
Discovery
Based on the feedback
from 360°instruments,
surveys, and discussions
with the coach and
stakeholders, the leader and
coach uncover strengths and
weaknesses, prioritize key
areas for improvement, and
create a development plan.
The participant and coach
meet with the leader's
manager to finalized the
plan. They also discuss the
manager's role, required
resources, and the
milestones of the learning
and coaching process.
Development
The coach and leader meet
weekly or bi-weekly usually
for three to six months.
Ideally the meetings are
face-to-face, but other
options are possible.
Development can include,
acquiring new knowledge,
skill development, projects,
or experiments. The sessions
include discussion,
training, seminars, online
courses, and readings. The
coach is always available,
insuring accountability, and
becomes resource and for
creating change.
Application
Each session ends with a
post-session assignment to
apply the leader's
discoveries on-the-job. The
leader is encouraged to
telephone the coach between
sessions to discuss specific
situations and challenges.
The participant journals
their progress, successes,
and challenges. At the
beginning of the next
coaching session, the leader
and coach discuss the
results. The leader will
meets periodically with
stakeholders and manager for
additional feedback and
mentoring. |
LEARN MORE
Call Rob directly at
513.772.5115 to get the full
details. He would be happy
to discuss this unique
leadership development
program with you, review
results of previous
programs, discuss costs and
return-on-investment. You
will learn about an easy way
to try the program without
risk. Your satisfactions is
100% guaranteed. Call if
you have a candidate or are
interested to learn more.
|
|
